Notes on New Testament grammar

UC-NRLF

BS

2390

Be

1904

CO

vO
O

O

Notes on
ew Testament Grammar

BURTON

DATE SLIP

Notes on New Testament Grammar

Notes on
New Testament Grammar

BY ERNEST DEWITT BURTON

PROFESSOR OF NEW TESTAMENT LITERATURE AND INTERPRETATION
IN THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO

REVISED EDITION

WITHDRAWN FROM
UNIVERSITY OF REDLANDS LIBRARY

CHICAGO

THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS
1904

8-

COPYRIGHT 1904
By THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO

PREFATORY NOTE

The following pages have been prepared and printed for
the use of classes entering, with a knowledge of classical
Greek, upon the study of the Greek of the New Testament.
They are not intended to enable the student to dispense with
the published Grammars, but aim simply to emphasize, by
thus singling them out, certain points to which experience has
shown it is desirable for the student to give special attention
at the beginning of his study of New Testament Greek. The
only proportion observed is that suggested by practical needs.
The relatively full treatment of the article, for example, finds
its occasion in the unsatisfactory treatment of this subject in
the Grammars and the necessity of some knowledge of it as
a basis for New Testament interpretation. Under the syntax
of the verb only Voice is treated of, with the thought that
those who use this pamphlet will probably have access to the
author's work on the Moods and Tenses in New Testament
Greek.

CONTENTS

PAGE

A. HISTORICAL RELATION OF NEW TESTAMENT GREEK

TO CLASSICAL GREEK - - n

B. NEW TESTAMENT FORMS 17

C. NEW TESTAMENT SYNTAX - 22

LIST OF WORKS AND AUTHORS REFERRED TO
BY ABBREVIATION

B, = Alexander Buttmann, A Grammar of -the New Testament Greek.

Translated by J. H. Thayer. Andover, 1873.
j?.MT.= Ernest DeWitt Burton, Syntax of the Moods and Tenses in

New Testament Greek. Chicago, 1893.
BL= F. Blass, Grammar of New Testament Greek. Translated by Henry

St. John Thackeray. Macmillan & Co., 1898.

G.= W. W. Goodwin, A Greek Grammar. Revised edition. Boston, 1892.
HA. — James Hadley, A Greek Grammar for Schoolsand Colleges. Revised

by F. D. Allen. New York, 1884.
WM.— G. B. Winer, A Treatise on the Grammar of New Testament Greek.

Translated by W. F. Moulton. Third edition. Edinburgh, 1882.
IVS.= G, B. Winer, Grammatik des neutestamentlichen Sprachidioms.

Achte Auflage, neubearbeitet von Paul Wilh. Schmiedel. Gottingen,

1894 — (in process of publication).

W.= Winer, the above-named work in various editions.
WH.— Westcott & Hort, The New Testament in the Original Greek, the

text revised by B. F. Westcott and F. J. A. Hort. Two volumes.

Cambridge and New York, 1881.
Ttsc/i.= Constantius Tischendorf, Novum Testamentum Graece. Eighth

edition. Two volumes. Leipzig, 1869-72.
Greg.= Caspar Rene Gregory, Prolegomena to the above. Three parts.

Leipzig, 1884—94.
T/i.=J. H. Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament.

Being Grimm's Wilke's Clavis Novi Testament}, translated, revised,

and enlarged. New York, 1886.

A. HISTORICAL RELATION OF NEW TESTAMENT
GREEK TO CLASSICAL GREEK

1. THE PRE-ARISTOTELIAN DIALECTS. — The classical stu-
dent is familiar with the fact that between the eighth and the
fourth century B. C. the Greek language was written and
spoken in various dialects usually distinguished as ^Eolic
(Alcceus and Sappho, 600 B. C.), Doric (Pindar, 470 B. C. ;
Theocritus, 270 B. C.), Old Ionic or Epic (Homer and Hesiod,
before 700 B. C.), New Ionic (Herodotus and Hippocrates,
fifth century B. C.), and Attic (Xenophon, Plato, etal.). See
Introduction to HA. and to G. For a different classification
see Brvgmann, Griechische Grammatik, pp. 16-21 ; Jannans,
Historical Greek Grammar, pp. i, 2.

In the days of Alexander the Great the Attic had become
the prevalent dialect, though the others had not wholly ceased
to be used. From this point we may conveniently trace the
rise of the later Greek dialects and idioms, as distinguished
from the earlier classical dialects mentioned above.

2. THE COMMON DIALECT. — As the Attic Dialect became,
partly as the result of the conquest made by Alexander, more
widely prevalent, it suffered a consequent modification by the
introduction of elements from the other dialects and of pro-
vincialisms. This modified form of the Attic, dating from
about the time of Aristotle (384-321 B. C.; cf. Alexander's
date, 356-323), is known as 17 KOLVTJ SiaAeK-ros, the Common Dia-
lect. It is also sometimes spoken of as Hellenic Greek; also
Later, or Post-Aristotelian, Greek ; see Th., Appendix ; and by
Deissmann, Thumb, and Blass is called Hellenistic Greek; see
§ 4, Remark. Aristotle marks the transition from Attic to
Common Greek. Polybius, 140 B. C.; Strabo, i A. D.;
Plutarch, TOO A. D., are writers of the Common Dialect, as

ii

iz NOTES ON NEW TESTAMENT GRAMMAR

also Arrian, Dio Cassius, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, and
Lucian.

REMARK. — Some writers apply the term "Common Dialect" and
KOiv-f] only to the common literary language of the Post-Aristotelian period,
excluding, on the one side, the colloquial speech and, on the other, the
language of those writers who endeavored to reproduce the Attic of the
classic period. So, for example, Winer-Schmiedel and Kennedy. Accord-
ing to this usage, Arrian, JDionysius of Halicarnassus, Lucian, and perhaps
Dio Cassius should be called "Atticists" rather than writers of the KOIVT?/.
The term is employed in these pages, however, in its broader sense, as
denoting the Greek of the post-Aristotelian period, whether written or
spoken, and whether used with or without effort to conserve the niceties of
the Attic speech. See Deissmann in Hmick, Kealencyclopadie, Vol. VII,
p. 630.

3. THE ALEXANDRIAN DIALECT.— Of the more or less dis-
tinct types of the Koivrj used in various parts of the Greek-
speaking world, none is of more importance for the student of
the Greek of the New Testament than that used in Alexandria.
Of this dialect in its colloquial form there have been preserved
to us various fragmentary remains, such as the Rosetta Stone,
and the Egyptian Papyri, of which so many have been discov-
ered in recent years. (See WS., § 3, i, f.n. 5.) Of the Alex-
andrian literary style, as it was written by cultured Hellenists,
2, 3, 4 Maccabees, though of Jewish authorship, are said by
Swete (Int. to O. T. in Greek, p. 312) to be pure examples.

REMARK. — Winer, Swete, and Kennedy, use the term "Alexandrian
Dialect "of the colloquial Greek of Alexandria. Deissmann uses the term
" Egypto- Alexandrian " or " Egyptian" of the Greek written or spoken in
Alexandria and other parts of Egypt. The fact of local peculiarities of the
language is sometimes ignored and the name '* Alexandrian " given to the
entire language which is here called the Common Dialect. So, <?. g., by
Schaff. The term "Alexandrian," as used above, includes both the literary
and spoken language.

4. THE GREEK USED BY GREEK-SPEAKING JEWS IN NEW
TESTAMENT TIMES. — Broadly speaking, this was the KOLVYJ. Yet,

NOTES ON NEW TESTAMENT GRAMMAR 13

since the Jews learned Greek chiefly as a spoken language,
those who made use of it for purposes of writing probably
employed for the most part the colloquial rather than the liter-
ary language. And as they learned it in various places, each
doubtless represents the particular type or dialect current in
the community from which he came. How greatly the various
colloquial forms of the Common Dialect differed from one
another, the evidence is insufficient fully to indicate. The
Alexandrian influence is that which through the Septuagint
(cf. § 5) was of most importance and of which we know
most.

Writers like Josephus and Philo, who wrote a literary
Greek nearly or quite as free from colloquial influence as
their non-Jewish contemporaries, were enabled to do so by
a knowledge of Greek literature probably quite exceptional
among Jews.

REMARK. — Because Greek-speaking Jews were called Hellenists, it
has been common to speak of their language as Hellenistic Greek. So IV.,
WS., Kennedy et al. Deissmann, however, maintains that alike the general
similarity of the language of Jewish and non-Jewish writers of the same
region and the variation of the Jewish writers among themselves forbid the
predication of a Jewish-Greek idiom at once somewhat homogeneous and
distinct from the Greek of other contemporary writers. Thumb, while
recognizing that the verb eXXyvifav originally referred to the Greek of
foreigners, and the noun 'E\\rjvi<TTris to the Greek-speaking Jews, yet regards
all Late Greek as so far homogeneous that he includes under the one word
" Hellenism " all the literary activity of that period in which the culture of
the world was becoming or was Greek, and employs " Hellenistic " as
synonymous with KOLV-T). Deissmann and Blass also use the term in the same
sense. Amid this diversity in the usage of terms the facts to be noted are,
on the one side, that the present tendency of investigation is to show that
some usages once regarded as Hebraisms are in reality idioms of the Koivr/,
and that the erection of Jewish-Greek into a distinct idiom probably exag-
gerates the differentiation of the Greek written by Jews from that of their
contemporaries; and, on the other hand, that most Jewish writers were
affected by influences that did not to the same extent affect non-Jewish
writers.

i4 NOTES ON NEW TESTAMENT GRAMMAR

5. THE GREEK OF THE SEPTUAGINT. — The Greek transla-
tion of the Old Testament commonly known as the Septuagint
was made at Alexandria, the translators employing the Alex-
andrian dialect, but carrying over from the Hebrew many
peculiarities of that language which would not have appeared
in a work composed originally in Greek. This version, though
not truly representing a living language or dialect, yet
undoubtedly exercised in turn an influence, especially in the
use of religious terms, upon the Greek used by subsequent
Jewish writers.

REMARK. — The difference between the Greek of a translation from the
Hebrew and the Greek used by one writing at first hand in Greek is illus-
trated by comparing I and 2 Maccabees — the former a translation of a
Hebrew work, the latter composed in Greek ; and still more strikingly by
comparing the Prologue to the Book of Sirach with the body of the work,
since in this case the same writer who translates the body of the book writes
the Prologue in .Greek of his own composing.

6. THE GREEK OF THE NEW TESTAMENT WRITERS. — This
again is, broadly speaking, the Koivrj. Yet respecting it four
facts should be borne in mind. First, like the Greek of Greek-
speaking Jews, it represents for the most part the colloquial
rather than the literary language. Secondly, the various
writers of the New Testament, acquiring their knowledge of
Greek in different lands, and subject in varying degrees to the
influences tending to modify the Common Dialect, differ not a
little from one another. Thirdly, all the books of the New
Testament are affected by the Old Testament, predominantly
through the Septuagint, though some at least of the New
Testament writers also knew Hebrew. The Semitic influence
thus affecting the New Testament books is manifest in different
degrees and forms in the different writers. Fourthly, the
vocabulary of all New Testament writers is affected to some
extent by the distinctly Christian ideas which they held and

NOTES ON NEW TESTAMENT GRAMMAR 15

sought to express, this influence appearing chiefly in the
meaning which certain religious terms bear.

7. The Latinisms of the New Testament writers are not due to the special
influences to which these writers were subject either as Jews or as Christians,
nor, probably, to the KO(.VT\ in its literary form, being rather a reflection of
the influence of the Roman dominion upon the colloquial speech of the
empire. Of the nearly thirty Latin words that occur in the New Testament,
none occur in the Septuagint, and but two have been pointed out in Polyb-
ius. Plutarch uses Latin words more frequently than Polybius, but for the
most part not those employed in the New Testament.

8. A comparison of the Epistle to the Hebrews and the Synoptic Gos-
pels will illustrate the extent and character of the differences that exist
among New Testament writers, all of whom are subject in some way to
Semitic influence. The former, though affirmed by tradition to have been
written originally in Aramaic and afterward translated into Greek, in fact
gives clear evidence of having been written originally in Greek by an author
who possessed a cpmmand of literary Greek exceptional among New Testa-
ment writers, and who evinces both by his vocabulary and by his quotations
a familiar acquaintance with the Septuagint, but little or no influence of the
Aramaic or Hebrew. Wherever written, the book evidently in no small
measure reflects Alexandrian influence. The Synoptic Gospels, on the other
hand, show a considerable Aramaic influence, which is suggestive of con-
nection with Palestine ; the precise nature of this connection does not call
for discussion at this point.

9. If the Greek of the New Testament writers is compared with the
Attic Greek of Plato or Xenophon, for example, it is possible theoretically to
classify the varying elements by which the former is differentiated from the
latter as (a) Common, this term covering the characteristics which distinguish
Later Greek in general from that of the pre-Aristotelian period ; (b] Alex-
andrian, to which might perhaps be added other local idioms, if we
possessed the means of identifying them; (c] Semitic, including Hebrew
and Aramaic; (d] Septuagint, which is itself a compound of Hebrew and
Alexandrian ; (e) Latin.

In practice, however, it is impossible perfectly to carry out such an
analysis. A grammar of the Alexandrian Dialect, as distinguished from the
Common, has not been produced and is perhaps impossible for lack of
sufficient data. Even of the Common Dialect no complete Grammar has
been published. Upon the usages of the Septuagint much work has been
done, but no complete treatise as yet exists. The work of distinguishing

1 6 NOTES ON NEW TESTAMENT GRAMMAR

the Semitic elements of the New Testament language from those which are
Common or Alexandrian is still in progress.

LITERATURE.— See j9/.,§ 2; £.,p. i; W.,§§II-IV (*FS.,§§ 2-4); HA.,
Introd.; G., Introd. ; Simcox, The Language of the New Testament ;
Sophocles, Greek Lexicon of the Roman and Byzantine Periods, Introd.; Ken-
nedy, Sources of New Testament Greek ; Immer, Hermeneutics of the New
Testament (Eng. Tr.), pp. 124 ff . ; Westcott, art. "New Testament," IV, in
Smith, Diet. Bib. ; Donaldson, art. " Greek Language," in Kitto, Cyclo-
pedia of Biblical Literature ; Schaff, Companion to the Greek Testament
and Revised Version, pp. 19-80; Thayer, art. "Language of the New Tes-
tament," in Hastings, Diet. Bib. ; Thumb, Die griechische Sprache im
Zeitalterdes Hellenismus, especially chap. 5; Za/m,"Die griechische Sprache
unter den Juden" in Einleitung in das Neue Testament, 2d ed., I, pp. 24-51;
Viteau, Syntaxe des Propositions : Le Verbe, pp. iii-lxi ; Deisstnann, Bible
Studies (Eng. tr.),pp. 63-85 ; Deissmann, Art. " Hellenistisches Griechisch,"
in Hauck, Realencyclopadie, 3d ed., Vol. VII; Ramsay, "Greek of the
Early Church and Pagan Ritual," Expository Times, Vol. X ; /. H. Moid-
ton, "New Lights on Biblical Greek," in Biblical World, Vol. XIX, pp.
190-96 ; Jannaris, Historical Greek Grammar, pp. 1-20.

B. NEW TESTAMENT FORMS

10. The following sections do not undertake even an
approximately complete presentation of the facts respecting
the peculiarities of New Testament forms, but aim only to call
attention in a general way to some of the more important
facts. For fuller information the student should consult the
lexicons and grammars, especially WS., §§ 5-16, pp. 31-44,
and Th. under particular words.

WRITING AND SOUND (B., pp. 5-11 ; W., §§ V-VIl; BL, §§ 3-6)

11. In all the matters pertaining to the alphabet, contrac-
tion, elision, accent, etc., the rules given in the classical gram
mars hold also in general respecting the Greek of the New
Testament. The MSS. of the New Testament, however, like
those of Greek authors, exhibit no little variation, and the
editor of the New Testament text must often make choice
among conflicting authorities. The following points may be
mentioned :

12. Through the influence of Itacism, /. e.t the practice of
giving the sound of iota (i) to rj and v and to the diphthongs
ei, y, 01 and vt, the MSS. of the New Testament exhibit various
interchanges of vowels, of which one of the most frequent is
that of ei and t. See, e. g., ctSea for tSe'a, Matt. 28 : 3.

13. Respecting terminal letters the usual Greek rules hold
except in the case of foreign names introduced without assimi-
lation. Cf. § 22.

14. MSS. and editors vary greatly respecting the addition
of v movable. Tisch., following the usual practice of the

• MSS., generally retains it before both vowels and consonants,
but occasionally omits it before a consonant on MS. authority,
in nearly all the latter cases following the reading of a group

17

1 8 NOTES ON NEW TESTAMENT GRAMMAR

including J$- See Greg., Part I, pp. 97 /. WH. omit it
wherever the omission is vouched for by either Codex Sinaiti-
cus (Jfc) or Vaticanus (B), supported by either Codex Alexan-
drinus (A) or Codex Ephraemi Syri rescriptus (C).

Nearly the same statement may be made respecting the s
of OUTCDS. Mexpts and a^pis, on the other hand, generally con-
form to the usual rule.

15. *Ev€Ka occurs before a consonant only : CI/CKO/ and tiveKtv
stand before either a vowel or a consonant. See B., p. 10, and
ff. BL, p. 20.

1 6. Most words which in earlier Attic were written with o-<r,
in later Attic with TT, have in the New Testament era-.

The combination pp is used interchangeably with pa:

17. Rough mutes are found standing before words which,
in classical Greek at least, usually had a smooth breathing.
See e. g., Rom. 8 : 20, e<£ cA.7ri8i, which Tisch. writes e<£' Airi'St,
but WH., €<£' cAirt'Si; Phil. 2 : 23, d<£ioV See B., p. 7; BL p. 15.

The MSS. frequently give 00 instead of r6 which the gram-
marians prescribe. Later editors incline to follow the MSS.

1 8. The rule that "v before a labial becomes /x, before a
palatal becomes y-nasal, before A, p is assimilated, before or is
dropped," is not followed at all uniformly in MSS. of the New
Testament in words compounded with o-w and h. Such forms
as (rvvoT/xxTiw'nygj crvvKaXeu), etc., are found in the MSS. and
adopted by recent editors. Cases of assimilation, however, as
in o-vXXa/x/?avw, also occur.

19. Crasis and elision occur in the New Testament, but
much less frequently than in the MSS. of classical writers.

20. The whole matter of punctuation, breathing, and
accentuation, including accent of enclitics and proclitics, is
one of editorship rather than of manuscript authority, since
the oldest MSS. are written without accents. Modern critics
follow in general the rules of the ancient grammarians. See
detailed discussion in W., §§ VI, VII ; BL, pp. 13-17.

NOTES ON NEW TESTAMENT GRAMMAR 19

DECLENSION OF NOUNS (A, pp. 11-25; W., §§VIII, IX ; Bl., §§ 7-10)

21. There is no dual number in the New Testament.

22. Foreign proper names which on being transferred into
Greek undergo no change of form are not declined, e. g.,
'lept^w (Matt. 20:29; Mark 10:46), Bcvta/xiV (Acts 13:21).
See other examples, B., pp. 15-19. Those which on being
transferred into Greek change their form are declined accord-
ing to Greek analogy, e. g., 2tS<ov, SiSwvos ; ^At^, S^AIKOS.
Some nouns have both a declinable and indeclinable form :
thus Mapia/x, or Mapt'a, Mapt'as. The declension of Mcovcn/s is
as follows : N. Mwucnjs, G. Mtouo-etoSj D. Mcovtret or M<ou<ny, A.
Mtovcrea or Mcovtri/v. See Bl., p. 29.

23. Some foreign names ending in -as, -T/S, -cos, -ovs are
declined according to a special declension called the weak or
mixed declension. The following is the table of terminations
as given by B., p. 19 :

N.

as

775

cos

ovs

G.

a

77

(0

ov

D.

a

V

<i>

ov

A.

ov

r)V

cov

ovv

V.

a

V

CO

ov

Examples in as are especially numerous, 'l^o-ovs is the only
instance in ous. See also BL, p. 31.

24. Jewish names of festivals usually have the plural form ;
e.g., TO. a£vfj.a (Mark 14 : i). The word crdpfiaTov is used in
both numbers with the sense of the singular. The usual dative
plural is o-a^acrtv, as if from the third declension. B., pp.
23, 24.

25. Some words fluctuate between the masculine and neuter
genders or between different declensions. This is called meta-
plasm. See BL, p. 28, and WS., § 8: 12.

20 NOTES ON NEW TESTAMENT GRAMMAR

DECLENSION OF PRONOUNS (B., pp. 31, 32 ; ^/.,§I3)

26. The simple personal pronoun of the third person singu-
lar and plural, ov, ol, etc., does not occur in the New Testament.

27. The interrogative pronoun Trorepos does not occur in
the New Testament, n's being used instead.

CONJUGATION OF VERBS (B.t pp. 32-53; W., §§XII-XV;
Bl.t §§ 14-23)

28. The syllabic augment of the pluperfect is usually
omitted. Thus, TreTrotTJ/ceio-ai/, Mark 15:7; cf. 15 : 10.

29. Double augmentation in compound verbs occurs in the
New Testament as in other Greek writers. Thus, aTreKareoTatfr;,
Mark 3:5; ^vew'x^o-av, John 9:10 (cf. Luke i : 64).

30. McAAa> and Swa/xat frequently have the augment rj as in
late Attic writers. See Mark 6 : 19 ; John 4 : 47.

31. Instances of a second aorist with a are not infrequent;
e.g., ijAtfa/xei/ (Acts 21:8), efSav (Matt. 13 : 17), evpa/xo/og (Heb.
9:12), etc. These forms are sometimes called Alexandrian
aorists. They are, however, entirely similar to the forms yjveyKa
and el?™ used by Attic writers. Regular second aorist forms
from the same stems occur side by side with the " Alexandrian "
forms. WS.j § 13: 13.

A similarly formed imperfect of the verb *x<a> (^xav) occurs
in a few passages. See Mark 8:7. See JBL, p. 46 ; WS., §13:13.

32. The termination -o-av instead of -v for the third person
plural, which occurs frequently in the Septuagint in second
aorist forms, occurs in the New Testament very rarely. See
2 Thess. 3:6, WH., marg. In John 15:22, 24, occurs the
imperfect form et'xoo-ai/, these two instances being quite without
parallel elsewhere.

33. The third person plural of the perfect indicative active
sometimes ends in -av instead of -ao-t. See John 17:7, eyvw/cav.

34. Several verbs which in classical Greek are of the

NOTES ON NEW TESTAMENT GRAMMAR 21

/mi-inflection have forms of the w-inflection in use in the New
Testament side by side with the regular /u-forms. In some
instances the stem is at the same time modified, in others it
remains unchanged. Hence arise such forms as UTTCU/W, Sei/o/uets,
o/xfueiv, 81801, Sot (the two latter not opt., but subj., as if from
8iS6a>), and yvol (subj.). Peculiarly complex are the various
forms of ?»7/zi. See B., pp. 45-51 ; BL, pp. 48-52.

C. NEW TESTAMENT SYNTAX
THE GENERAL CHARACTER OF NEW TESTAMENT SYNTAX

35. What has already been said in general about the
language of the New Testament writers applies also to the
Syntax. Broadly speaking, the writers of the New Testament
follow the syntactical usages of the Koivrj, but in syntax as in
other respects are affected to a certain extent by those special
influences already named to which they were in varying
degrees subject. Cf. §§ 6-9. The divergence of their lan-
guage from that of classical writers in respect to syntax is
greater than in reference to forms of words, and less than in
respect to the meanings of words, both the Jewish and the
Christian influence affecting more deeply the meanings of
words than either their form or their syntactical employment.
As respects the variations of New Testament writers among
themselves, this is probably greater in syntax than in any
other respect. Yet in the great majority of syntactical usages
they agree, and the student of syntax finds no difficulty in
framing statements of New Testament usage in general, which
only occasionally require qualifying statements covering the
usage of particular writers.

REMARK. — It should be clearly recognized that departure from clas-
sical standards does not imply capriciousness or lack of established usage.
Late Greek is not classical Greek, as the Greek of Plato is not that of
Homer. But Late Greek in general, and New Testament Greek in particu-
lar, have recognized usages which are as reducible to definite statement as
those of Plato or Homer.

NOTES ON NEW TESTAMENT GRAMMAR 23

SYNTAX OF THE ARTICLE
GENERAL RULES

36. The use of the article and the effect of its omission are
substantially the same in the New Testament as in classical
Greek.

a) The article is in general either (i) Restrictive (demon-
strative), or (2) Generic.

b} Nouns without the article are either (i) Indefinite, or (2)
Qualitative (adjectival).

COMMON NOUNS

37. With common and class nouns the restrictive article
may designate the object which it denotes, as

a) Identified by the context (Mark 2 : 5), or
I)) The well-known bearer of the name, the one to whom
it belongs by pre-eminence (John 15 : 26).

REMARK. — It should be distinctly observed that the article does not
itself identify the object referred to, but only indicates that the noun refers to
a person or thing which is identified by the context or otherwise. A noun
which, even with the article, itself identifies its object is virtually a proper
noun.

38. With common and class nouns the generic article may
designate,

a) The whole class conceived of as a unity (Mark 2 127), or

b) Any member whatever of the class (Acts 10 : 35).

39. Common nouns without the article are either

a) Indefinite, when the word designates the object as
belonging to the class indicated (i Cor. 9: i, aTrooroXos ) , or

b) Qualitative, when it characterizes the object as possessing
the attributes denoted by the noun (Eph. 5 : 23).

REMARK i. — The indefinite force always involves the qualitative more
or less distinctly, since to assign an object to a class is to attribute to it the
qualities which are the mark of the class. The qualitative force, on the

24 NOTES ON NEW TESTAMENT GRAMMAR

other hand, does not necessarily involve the indefinite, since the qualities
denoted by a noun may be attributed to an object without thought of any
other members of the class, or even when there are no other members.

REMARK 2. — A noun in the predicate, since in the nature of the case
it is commonly indefinite or qualitative, is most frequently without the
article. This is probably all the truth there is in the rule that predicate
nouns do not take the article. A noun in the predicate referring specifically
to an individual as such takes the article. Mark 8:29; John 3 : 10; 9:20.

PROPER NAMES

40. With proper names the article is always restrictive, the
generic use being in the nature of the case impossible.

41. With names of persons the article designates the per-
son as

a) The person of this name indicated in the context, espe-
cially if previously named (Gal. 3:8; cf. vs. 7), or

I)} The well-known person of this name (John 9 : 28).

42. In general, a personal name without the article simply
names the person as one bearing that name. Yet since a per-
sonal name is itself relatively definite, the article is much more
easily omitted than in the case of a common noun. Whether
it shall be used or omitted is often a matter of choice on grounds
slight in themselves and difficult to detect. In case of inde-
clinable names the necessity of marking the case is sometimes
influential.

43. Names of countries, islands, and rivers, being in most
cases originally adjective in character, commonly have the
article. Names of cities usually omit it. Yet individual terms
have to some extent their own usage.

APPELLATIVES

44. The article with appellatives approximating to proper
names, such as 0cos, *upios, xpto-rog, etc., is usually restrictive,
designating the well-known bearer of the title. The title is

NOTES ON NEW TESTAMENT GRAMMAR 25

used either in a purely official sense, not conveying in itself
any implication as to the personal identity of the bearer of the
name (Matt. 2:4; 22 : 42); or with tacit implication respecting
personal identity (Matt. 11:2); or finally almost as a personal
name, the appellative force being lost sight of or receding into
the background (i Cor. 1:13).

45. Appellatives without the article are

a) Indefinite, marking the person as belonging to the class
denoted by the noun (i Cor. 8 15), or

^) Qualitative, attributing to the person referred to the
attributes, relations, etc., which the name expresses (Rom.
10:9), or

c] Definite, after the analogy of true proper names. Thus
Ku'ptos, standing as the equivalent of the Old Testament
Jehovah, is usually without the article in all constructions ;
and X/OKTTOS often occurs without the article as a name for
Jesus. But in this matter the usage of every such word must
be determined for itself.

REMARK. — In compound appellatives, i. <?., appellatives consisting of a
noun limited by another noun, it is usually the case that both nouns have
the article or both omit it (Mark 2 : 28 ; John 5 : 27 ; Rom.i : 4 ; Mark 3:11).

ABSTRACT AND VERBAL NOUNS

46. With abstract and verbal nouns the restrictive article
may be used to designate the quality or action, as

a] The instance identified by the context (Gal. 5 : 13), or

b) The pre-eminent and well-known instance (Rom. 9:4).

47. With abstract and verbal nouns the generic article
makes the noun refer to the quality or action as such (i Cor.
13:4; Rom. 5 : 12).

48. Abstract and verbal nouns without the article may be
a) Indefinite, when the word designates the act or quality

referred to as belonging to the class of acts or qualities
denoted by the noun (i John 5:16, afJLapriav, a/xaprta; Rom.

26 NOTES ON NEW TESTAMENT GRAMMAR

8:240). Verbal nouns in the plural without the article are
always indefinite.

<£) Qualitative, when they merely characterize that which is
referred to as having the quality denoted by the noun (Matt.
21:32; Rom. 8: 24^).

NOUNS IN FIXED PHRASES

49. In general phrases and standing formulas, especially
in those consisting of a preposition and its object, the article
is frequently omitted, even when the noun is quite definite in
its reference, and in many other cases where fhe noun, though
in reality indefinite, requires the definite article in English.
The usage of each word and phrase, however, requires to be
separately determined. (Luke 13:29; Matt. 27:45; Luke
11:50; Acts 5:41-)

POSITION

50. The classical rule that when the article and an attribu-
tive belong together to a substantive, the attributive always
stands in attributive position, /. e., between the article and
noun, or after the article following the noun, holds good in
the New Testament when the attributive is an adjective or par-
ticiple. Thus TO ayioi/ Trvev/xa, or TO Trvev/xa TO aytov.

But when the attributive is a preposition and its object, or
an adverb, it may stand either in attributive or (as occasionally
in classical writers) in predicative position. Thus 6 Seoyuos ei/

When the attributive is a genitive, it may, as in classical
writers, stand in either position. Cf. § 54, e), and B. MT. 427.

THE ARTICLE AS DEMONSTRATIVE

51. The article is used as a demonstrative in the New
Testament only in the phrases 6 fteV, 6 8e, and in these only in
the four forms 6, 17, oi, at. Elsewhere, /. e., in the neuter nomi-

NOTES ON NEW TESTAMENT GRAMMAR 27

native and in all the oblique cases, the forms of the relative
take the place of the article. Thus we have o> 8e, oV 8e, ov? 8c,
instead of roJ Se, rov Se, TOVS 8e. Even in the nominative os
sometimes appears. This use of the relative pronoun is found
as early as Demosthenes, but only in oblique cases. HA., 654, d.

SYNTAX OF PRONOUNS (#., pp. 103-21; W., §§ XXI-XXV)

52. The pronoun euro's is of very frequent occurrence in
the New Testament. It has four uses:

a) As in classical Greek, preceded by the article and mean-
ing "the same": 6 airros Kv'pios, the same Lord.

b) As in classical Greek, in predicative position, as an in-
tensive, meaning "self": cdrros 6 /cvptos, the Lord himself.

In pnrases of time Luke uses avro? before the article with
nearly the force of a slightly emphatic eVetvo? or OVTOS. Luke
2:38, avrfj rfj a>pa, at that very hour. See also Luke 10:21;
Acts 16:18; cf. Th., s. v. I. 2, c.

f) As a simple personal pronoun. This also is classical
usage, but is extended in the New Testament in two directions.
First, it occurs not only in oblique cases, as in classical writers,
but also in the nominative, where classical Greek would use
OUTOS or o8e, or would omit the pronoun altogether (Mark 8: 29;
Luke 1:22; £., p. 107. Contra, IV., § XXII, 4 (£), Rem.).
Secondly, the redundant use of the pronoun, repeating what
has already been expressed by a noun, pronoun, or phrase, is
more common than in classical writers, doubtless under the
influence of the Hebrew idiom (Matt. 8:23; 25:29; Mark 1:7;
Rev. 2:7; cf. W., §XXII, 4).

d) As equivalent to the reflexive. In the New Testament
this usage is more frequent than in classical Greek (Matt. 1:21;
Mark 3:9; Luke 9:24, and very often).

53. Reflexive Pronouns.

a] Reflexive pronouns, when used, conform to classical
usage. But simple personal pronouns are often used instead

28 NOTES ON NEW TESTAMENT GRAMMAR

of the reflexives. This occurs in classical Greek, but not so
frequently as in the New Testament. Cf. 52, d], above, and
see HA., 684.

b] Respecting the forms avrov, avrw, etc. (without breath-
ings in the older MSS.; hence ambiguous) there is still differ-
ence of opinion. The Textus Receptus gave many of them the
rough breathing, thus making them shortened reflexives— avrov,
etc. Most of the more recent editors and text critics have given
them all, or very nearly all, the smooth breathing, making them
simple personal pronouns — avrov, etc. — though falling in
many cases under the preceding rule of personal pronouns
used for the reflexive. See the reasons for this course, B.,
p. in. The result of this, of course, is to make the reflexive
appear in the New Testament only in the longer form —
kavrov, eavro), etc. WH. have in about twenty instances
given these forms — avrov, avrw, etc. — the rough breathing,
thus returning in part to the usage of the Textus Receptus.
See WH., Vol. II, Appendix, pp. 143, 144; and cf. Luke
12:17, 21; John 2:24, 13:32; Rom. 1:27; 2 Cor. 3:5; Eph.
2:15; i John 5:10, in Tisch. and WH. See also W., § XXII,

5,*

c] The form tavrov is generally, but not always, in the New
Testament an emphatic reflexive. Emphatic, Matt. 16:24;
18:4; i Cor. 13:5, etc.; unemphatic, Mark 8:14; Luke
19: 13; Rev. 10:3, etc.

d] The reflexive of the third person plural, ecumov, is
regularly used in the New Testament for all three persons.
About seventy instances of its use for the first or second per-
son occur. See, e. g., Matt. 3:9; 23:31; Luke 12:57; Rom.
8:23; 15:1; i Cor. 11:31; etc. When so used it is almost
always emphatic.

54. Possessive Pronouns and Possessive Genitives.
a) Possessive limitations are much more frequent in the
New Testament than in classical Greek.

NOTES ON NEW TESTAMENT GRAMMAR 29

b) Possessive pronouns are used less frequently than in
classical Greek, the genitive of the personal pronoun being
used instead.

c) "iSios is used as an emphatic possessive instead of eoumn)
or the possessive with avrds (John 4 : 44).

d) The article is sometimes omitted with possessive limita-
tions where classical Greek would require it (Luke 2:32;
James i : 26, etc.).

e) When the article occurs, the position of the pronoun is
in general regular, viz., the personal pronoun stands in predi-
cative position (yet occasionally, mostly in the epistles, it
stands in attributive position); reflexives usually stand in
attributive position (Luke 11:21; 13:34; Matt. 8:22: contra,
Matt. 18:31; 25:1); possessives invariably so.

SYNTAX OF THE CASES

55. The use of the cases is nearly the same in New Testa-
ment as in classical Greek. The following matters require to
be specially noted in the study of New Testament Greek :

56. The Nominative is frequently used as the case of
address in the New Testament, usually with the article (Matt.
1 1 : 26 ; James 5:1; i Cor. 15 : 36 ; cf. B., p. 140).

57. The Genitive of Designation, denoting the same object
as that which is denoted by the noun it limits, chiefly poetic
in classical writers, is not uncommon in the New Testament
(John 2:21; Acts 1 6 : 14; Heb. 12:11).

58. The Genitive of Characteristic (sometimes called quali-
tative), which scarcely occurs at all in classical authors, is not
infrequent in the New Testament (Matt. 21:32; Luke 16:8).
It is probably of Hebraistic origin, though a nearly similar
idiom is found also in Latin.

59. The Genitive limiting a noun is often used in the New
Testament to indicate a relationship between the two objects
of so general a character that it cannot be assigned to any of

3o NOTES ON NEW TESTAMENT GRAMMAR

the usual genitive relations. Such instances may be classed
under the general head of Genitive of Connection (Matt. 1:17;
Mark 1 : 4, /xeravotas ; John 7:35).

60. The Dative of Time is sometimes used in the New Tes-
tament to denote, not point of time, but duration (Luke 8:27;
Acts 8 : 1 1 ; Acts 13 : 20).

61. Prepositional constructions are very frequent in the
New Testament, often occurring when classical Greek would
employ a case only. Some of the most common constructions
are illustrated in the following examples : Acts 13:22; Matt.
21 : 46 ; Acts 2:16; John 2:11; 16 : 8.

THE VOICE OF THE VERB

62. The Aorist Passive is sometimes used in the sense of
the Middle. This occurs in the New Testament much more
frequently than in classical writers (Mark 5:21; Matt. 2:21;
James 4 : 7).

63. Certain tenses of deponent verbs are sometimes used
in a passive sense (Matt. 6 : i ; Mark 5 : 29; Rom. 4 : 4, 5 ; cf.
vss. 6, 8). See B., p. 52..

UNIVERSITY OF REDIANDS LIBRARY

RETURN CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT

202 Main Library

642-3403

LOAN PERIOD 1
HOME USE

2

3

4

5

6 ,

ALL BOOKS MAY BE RECALLED AFTER 7 DAYS

1 -month loans may be renewed by calling 642-3405

6-month loans may be recharged by bringing books to Circulation DesM

Renewals and recharges may be made 4 days prior to due date

DUE AS STAMPED BELOW

976

FORM NO. DD 6, 40m, 6'76

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY
BERKELEY, CA 94720

M147818

THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY